Out of the Woods
by Electronic-Star
Summary: Far away, as north as we can go once stood an Enchanted Forest. It was a magical place. But something went wrong...


**A.N.** A little oneshot about Iduna saving Agnarr during the battle and what happened afterwards. Heavy spoilers for Frozen 2

**Out of the Woods**

It's been a while since the dam was build. The Northuldra and Arendellians accepted each other as neighbors and friends and so the Arendellians built this dam to seal that friendship. It wasn't really that good for them though. The lack of water was damaging the forest.

But Iduna wasn't thinking too much of it. Firstly, because she was too young and secondly because their eldest will talk with the King of Arendelle to find a solution. She was with her people for the most part, listening to the conversations between her people and the Arendellians. But then her friend, the wind spirit, distracted her.

She followed him and played with him like she always did. The spirit was making her fly around as if its pushing her somewhere, but she didn't think too much about it. And while she was playing around with the spirit, something suddenly changed. All the spirits were angry all of a sudden. The wind spirit brought her away from the battle that suddenly broke out. What happened? Everyone were like best friends a moment ago.

During the chaos she just barely saw the king dying and the prince being thrown away by the spirits. Iduna didn't care who started this fight, she just wanted it to stop! Plus she couldn't and didn't want to see someone hurt.

The girl ran to the prince, going down on her knees and holding up his head. "Hey! Are you okay?" She asked, but didn't get an answer from him. He was unconscious. Must've hit his head…She tried pulling him away from this chaos, but he was too heavy for her. Iduna looked around, everyone else were too busy fighting…

The spirits were furious, but maybe it still worked…The girl sang to the spirit of the wind, like she always did, calling him for help. And help she got. The spirit helped her carry the prince to safety. Just outside the forest was a carriage and without thinking she sneaked them both on the back. The spirit put a blanket over her to hide her. Then she felt it move fast.

She made sure neither of them would fall off and when she peeked out from under the blanket, she saw a thick mist forming and covering her home. The mist was hiding the forest behind it. For some reason she had the feeling that she won't see her home, her family ever again…It was then that she noticed the tears gliding down her cheeks. How could it end like this?

Well...at least she still had her shawl with her. That's at least something from her home. When she heard the men in the front talk, she quickly pulled the blanket over her head again, lying still. They were just as confused as her. And of course they'd think her people attacked first, just like she thought the Arendellians did.

* * *

Iduna woke up when the blanket was torn away from her. She jumped up in shock, before looking at Arendellian guards and the owner of this carriage. And they looked angry. The girl moved away from them as far as she could, which wasn't far at all as she soon hit the wood behind her.

Then suddenly one of the man grabbed her by her collar, pulling her up to her knees. "You little-! What are you doing there?! Did you try to steal something?" He growled in her face. "No! No, I just…"

The guard noticed someone else under the blanket and pulled it away, revealing the prince. Then he looked at her suspicious. "What were you doing with the prince, girl?"

"Nothing!"

"Were you trying to kidnap him?"

"Jeez, I'm not older than him! What should I do with him anyway? I was just saving him."

The guard frowned at that. "Saving from what?"

"I-I'm a Northuldra. He was at our place with the king and his guards. We were all getting along well, but then suddenly they were all fighting each other. He was hurt, so I brought him to safety...Now let me go!"

Then a woman appeared, glaring at the salesman that still held her. "What's going on here? Let go of the girl, will you." She slapped the man's hand and he let go of her clothes. "She said something went wrong in the Enchanted Forest." Said the guard, while the woman looked very worried. "But she saved the prince."

"Then why are you threatening this poor girl? We owe her." Then she turned to the guard. "Please bring the prince to his room." The guard immediately did as he was told and carried the still unconscious prince into the castle. Iduna jumped down the carriage, looking lost. "Uhm..." Before she could say anything, though, the woman spoke. "Come in, girl."

"Oh, I...I don't think..." The woman didn't listen to her though and gently pushed her towards the castle. "I'm sure it was a long journey from your home. You must be cold and starving."

Well, she wasn't wrong...She was a little cold. And after being reminded she felt the hunger coming. So she didn't fight her, as she was led inside. And the castle looked even bigger from the inside! "Wow..." Iduna didn't know where to look first. This place was amazing..."I'm Gerda. What's your name, young lady?" The girl almost laughed. No one called her 'young lady' before. It was kinda sweet. "Iduna."

"That's a very beautiful name." They both smiled at each other. "Do you want to take a bath?" At first Iduna wanted to decline. But she was very dirty..."Uhm...if I may."

* * *

Iduna was led into a ridiculously large room then, with an equally large bathroom that had the biggest tub that she's ever seen in her life. Gerda put some liquids in the water and soon enough lots of foam appeared and a sweet, flowery scent filled the air. "What is that scent?" She asked the woman.

"It's lavender." Answered the woman, while Iduna stared at the foam in fascination. "Call me when you need anything." With that Gerda left to give her some privacy. This gave her the chance to inspect everything.

Everything looked so...over the top. Typical royals probably. After shedding her clothes, she got unto the tub to find the water hot, but not unpleasant. It's like a natural hot spring. So this is how royals washed and relaxed themselves? She could get usee to this to be honest, but she knew that she had to leave soon. After the nice bath, of course.

* * *

Iduna woke up an hour later. She must've fallen asleep...But it wasn't so bad. Having a little nap in some warm water was great. But now the water's turning cold. Time to get out. As she sat up and rubbed her tired eyes, she noticed that her clothes were gone! In their place was a towel and a dress and of course undergarments.

Looked like Gerda came back with these and let her sleep. After getting out of the tub and drying herself, she got into the new clothes. The dress was really nice, but nothing like her usual clothes. She'd surely have some problems moving around in this and climbing trees…

But before she could think were to stay the night, someone knocked on the door. "Uh, come in." She said to the person behind the door and in came Gerda. "Hello, sleepyhead." Iduna just smiled at her shyly. "Do you like your clothes? Do they fit?"

"Yes. Yes, they're good. But where are my old ones?" Then her eyes widened in horror. "W-where is my shawl?"

"Don't worry, sweetie. Your clothes will be washed and your shawl is right there." The woman and pointed at the enormous bed. Iduna ran to it immediately and wrapped it around her shoulders. "Thank god…"

"This is very important to you, hm?" It wasn't a question bit a statement. "Yes...it was my mothers." She could already feel the tears at the memories of her mother. Which led to the thought that she won't be able to see any of her family ever again. She could feel it...She felt the anger of the spirits and not once in her life did she hear or see that kind of mist. It was magical...

The woman hugged her, reminding her of her mother and Iduna couldn't stop the tears anymore. She cried her eyes out for minutes, or maybe it was an hour before she calmed down again. "Sorry..." The girl sniffled, wiping her tears away. "It's alright." Said Gerda with that soft voice of hers. Only then did Iduna remember something important. "H-how's the prince?"

"He's still sleeping but fine. His injury wasn't bad but he still needs to recover."

Iduna nodded, relieved. "Good...please don't tell him that I saved him. And don't tell him a Northuldra did it either. Please." Who knew how he might react if he saw her and k ew what she was? He surely wouldn't be that happy about it. Even if no one could go back to the Enchanted Forest, there'd be one Northuldra he could punish for all this. And how would the rest of the Arendellians react? Her father told her they're hiding for a reason and the story will come out one way or another. Everyone will hate her. She'd have no place to stay...

Gerda seemed to understand her wishes. "Okay. I won't tell anyone. And the guards won't either."

"Thank you..." Maybe it's better if they throw away her clothes too. If anyone would see her like that...Even if she'd hide in the nearby forests. "I...should go now."

"And where do you want to go?" Asked Gerda, while the girl shrugged. "The woods?" Still, she was worried that she might not survive all alone. She could hunt, and climb and build things, but everything's more difficult when she was alone.

"Listen, you don't have to live in the woods. I can bring you to the orphanage if you want. You can stay tonight, though. After all, we owe you this much since you saved the prince." Gerda suggested then.

Iduna wondered what this place would be like...but maybe it was a little better than trying to survive on her own. "Okay."


End file.
